Chelsea of England’s Nigerian-born youngster, Faustino Anjorin was part of The Blues’ squad that made history by winning the London-based club’s second ever UEFA Champions League title by defeating Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although the Nigerian-born lad did not get to dress for Saturday’s game in Gdansk, Poland, he would take delight in being physically present in the stadium, as he had been part of the 25-player squad taken to the venue by Chelsea’s coach, Thomas Tuchel.
Anjorin’s fellow-Nigerian-born attacker, Tammy Abraham was also not dressed for the encounter, as Chelsea were crowned European champions for the second time as Kai Havertz’s first-half strike sealed a 1-0 victory over a lacklustre Manchester City in Porto.
The Nigerian-born youngster’s side, who lost Thiago Silva to injury in the 39th minute, were sent on their way just before half-time as Mason Mount’s superb pass picked out Kai Havertz in the 42nd minute and he rounded Ederson to calmly finish into an empty net for his first UCL goal.
Man City, who picked an extremely attacking line-up, were far from their fluent best and their task was made even more difficult when Kevin De Bruyne was forced off because of a head injury in the 60th minute.
After substitute Christian Pulisic missed a guilt-edged chance to wrap up victory, City turned to Sergio Aguero for one final time, but an equaliser proved elusive as Chelsea, who defended heroically, held on for a third straight win over City to end their season on a high.
This means success in the UCL again proved elusive once again for Man City and their gaffer, Pep Guardiola and, despite their recent double in the English Premier League and Carabao Cup, their wait to win Europe’s biggest club competition goes on.
On the other hand, Saturday’s victory banished memories of The Blues’ English FA Cup final disappointment earlier this month and seals their first piece of silverware under Tuchel, who replaced Anjorin’s mentor, Frank Lampard back in January.
Tuchel said afterwards: “To share it with everybody is incredible. We made it. Wow. I don’t know what to feel. I was so grateful to arrive a second time [in the final]. I felt different. We were somehow… You could feel it getting closer.
“(They) were determined to win this. We wanted to be a stone in their shoe. We encouraged everybody to step up and step out, to be more brave and create dangerous counter-attacks.”
